In this episode we speak to Dr. Sonja Peterson, Senior Researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. We discuss the implications of introducing an EU ETS 2 for buildings and road transport in terms of welfare effects, predicted prices, and the future role of the land use, land use change and forestry sector (LULUCF). The interview was led by Marie Raude and Lea Heinrich, Research Associates at the Climate Team of the Florence School of Regulation, and recorded during the LIFE COASE workshop on the role of carbon markets in reaching carbon neutrality which took place in June 2024.

Ep 7 | Considering the efficiency of the EU ETS 2: a modelling exercise

The wind has turned again for energy communities in Greece: a recent change in law now forbids, for example, the participation of businesses. This shift leaves more than one community energy initiative puzzled. And still, community leaders keep on fighting for it as a means to bring environmental and social sustainability – ultimately also as a means to turn the blurry degrowth concept into something very concrete.

Chris Giotitsas, with whom I've met for this episode, says: "Well, degrowth is a pretty loaded term on its own. When applied to energy, it's even more complex because questions arise as to what types of energy needs are considered the baseline and how much energy is considered enough when we're talking about reaching a certain limit and then considering limits themselves."


Chris is researcher at Peer to Peer Lab and President of the energy community <ttps://commonen.gr in the North of Greece. CommonEn was founded in May 2021 in Ioannina. Its purpose is the production and management of clean and cheap energy. One of his planned energy community projects is about urban agrivoltaics involving people with mental health issues. To make this happen, the energy community closely works together with the municipality of Ioannina.

This episode was produced thanks to funding from the SCCALE 20-30-50 project (Horizon 2020 program).

SCCALE episode about degrowth & energy communities with Chris Giotsitsas

The seventh episode of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ unpacks the subject of 'long-term contracts' in the electricity sector and explores some of the ways that a fresh look at this tool could help deliver the energy transition.

For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by part-time Professor of FSR Jean-Michel Glachant. The conversation builds on the recent publication of his Technical Report on this subject, co-authored with Guillaume Dezobry, Leigh Hancher, and Emma Menegatti.

This episode follows last month's 'part 1' episode recorded with Leigh Hancher on the same subject. Part 2 focuses broadly on the application of long-term contracts, or 'LTCs' as they are more commonly referred to, as well as some of what Jean-Michel considers to be the limitations and unknowns for LTCs and their role in bringing security and competitiveness to European industry. We learn about how LTCs could have helped during the previous energy crisis, and travel back in time even further to 2006 to hear Jean-Michels views on the 'Sector Inquiry' he contributed to at the time, and how those experiences relate to present day.

The full report can be found here: cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1…ence=1&isAllowed=y

Episode 7 | Rethinking long-term contracts for the energy transition: Part 2

The eighth episode of the ‘FSR Policy Briefcase’ breaks down the subject of 'contracts for difference' or 'CfD's' in the renewable electricity sector and explores some of the ways that innovative designs can help accelerate the energy transition.

For this episode, regular hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone are joined by part-time FSR Professor and full-time DTU Professor, Lena Kitzing. The conversation takes as a point of departure the recent publication of Lena's Technical Report on this subject, co-authored with Anne Held, Malte Gephart, Fabian Wagner, Vasilios Anatolitis, and Corinna Klessmann. 
This episode builds on our previous two episodes with Leigh Hancher and Jean-Michel Glachant, which focused on different kinds of public and private 'long-term contracts' in general, including CfD's. In this conversation we discuss the history of CfD's, their relationship to other forms of long-term contracts and incentives within the renewable energy space, as well as the role of 'two-sided' CfD's in mitigating the damage of the recent energy crisis. Looking to the future, Lena outlines some other technologies where she feels CfD's might prove useful, including for energy storage, as well as sharing some of her views on potential future design innovations for the renewables sector! 

The full report can be found here:  https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/76700;jsessionid=C6C7EADB8A166005F29DFD28A8AFBB44

Episode 8 | The ABCs of CfDs: Demystifying and designing Contracts for Difference

Ugo and Franjo are, respectively, President and Manager of this energy cooperative called Apsyrtides. In this episode they tell us how community work is driving their island’s energy transition, but also how Croatian law is still not ready for it. They are about to design a voucher model in cooperation with the water management company to allow residents to co-finance smaller solar projects. We also talked about the need for long-term secure electricity contracts with PPAs being still a promising but hard-to-realise option in Croatia.

This episode was produced with support from the EU-funded SCCALE 20-30-50 project.

SCCALE episode about community energy strategies in a small paradise in Croatia

this is yours, take it

The energy and climate challenge is so big that it requires everybody to be involved. New ways of communicating are needed. What are the best means to shape new narratives and, in the end, to make people want to engage in changing the energy system? In this episode we talked with Laura Williams and Britt Jurgensen from CarbonCoop: one is a trained theatre practitioner, the other a political activist. Can we empower people more easily by merging art and activism? 

This episode was recorded via internet. It is part of “City Stories” which is brought to you by the EU project. mPower explores how cities and citizens can manage the energy transition together – in a fair, clean and democratic way. Participation can happen at various stages: from involving citizens, local NGOs or businesses in the policy design to any stage of the energy value chain: for example as shareholders or even prosumers. The mPower project gets funding from the European Horizon 2020 programme.

Episode about new narratives - with Britt and Laura from Carbon Coop

Welcome to City Stories, the podcast by Energy Cities. Energy Cities is the European city network of local authorities in energy transition with over 1000 members from 30 countries. This podcast is for those who want to learn more about how cities go about with the energy transition. The challenge is big, but there are so many new, collaborative practices that emerge and that make this challenge fun and feasible. Each month we invite passionate European guests from different horizons and sectors who dedicate much of their time to making the energy transition more democratic. Each conversation brings out a city’s story as well as very personal opinions and motivations. The podcast is moderated by Miriam Eisermann. It is available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts

Episode about new narratives - with Britt and Laura from Carbon Coop

City stories: The podcast by Energy Cities

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